CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2018-0468 — Cisco Energy Management Suite security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.8

A vulnerability in the configuration of a local database installed as part of the Cisco Energy Management Suite (CEMS) could allow an authenticated, local attacker to access and alter confidential data. The vulnerability is due to the installation of the PostgreSQL database with unchanged default access credentials. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by logging in to the machine where CEMS is installed and establishing a local connection to the database. The fix for this vulnerability randomizes the database access password in new installations; however, the fix will not change the password for existing installations. Users are required to manually change the password, as documented in the Workarounds section of this advisory. There are workarounds that address this vulnerability.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.0)
Published
2018-12-04
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-798

Affected products

  • cisco / energy_management_suite / 5.2

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

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Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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